The Gate to the Other World
A few days later, on a peaceful morning bathed in warm sunlight.
Mina set off down the forest path with the errand list Alf had written for her tucked snugly against her chest.
It had been a while since her last visit to the human village.
"Epi, you stay put, okay? If you suddenly pop out going 'pong!' in a crowded place, you'll give everyone a fright."
As she murmured this while patting her pocket, Epi, the water spirit who had been rippling secretly inside it, let out a low, sulky grumble in protest.
Pong….
Remarkably enough, the little spirit soon quieted down and held its breath.
The modest country village at the end of the forest trail was, as always, brimming with the lively hum of everyday life. The clanging din of the blacksmith's hammer, the nutty aroma of freshly baked bread, the hawkers' cries as merchants dragged their carts along — it was a world entirely apart from the quiet stillness of the cabin in the woods.
"Oh my, if it isn't Mina! It's been ages!"
As she passed the vegetable stall, the kind-hearted general store lady waved cheerfully, her eyes crinkling with delight.
"Hello, ma'am!"
"Running errands for Master Alf again today? Goodness, you seem to shoot up taller every time I see you. You're turning into quite the proper young lady."
A young lady.
At that single word, Mina's shoulders subtly squared themselves.
"Hehe, I'm a full-grown adult now, you know! I can handle errands perfectly fine without Master's help."
"Yes, yes. Alf must be so lucky to have such a dependable student. Here, take this for the road."
The lady pressed a fresh, plump red apple into Mina's hand.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly—!"
"Now, now, don't refuse. Here you go."
Though Mina had tried her earnest best to decline, the sweet fragrance of the apple won her over, and she eventually tucked it into her arms with a bashful smile.
She loved the forest where she lived alone with her master, but she also dearly loved the warm atmosphere of a village that recognized her as 'Alf's disciple' and, moreover, as a fully grown adult.
In this small, peaceful village, Alf was nothing short of a hero.
Ever since he had built his cabin in the forest and settled there one day, he had never once hesitated to lend a hand whenever crises large and small came crashing down upon the village. When a terrible drought struck, he summoned water spirits to soak the withering fields; when monsters threatened to descend from the forest, he quietly wove barriers to keep them at bay.
To the villagers, Alf was truly a benefactor and guardian. And quite naturally, they embraced Mina — his only disciple — with the same warmth they would show their own child.
The feeling of being wholly acknowledged within the warmth of others. Mina loved that feeling more than anything.
Now, what else was I supposed to buy?
She pulled the list from her pocket. Fragrant spices from the herbalist, candles for the study, and mana-conductive wire for repairing the cabin. She made her rounds from shop to shop, and by the time she'd gathered everything, her bag had grown considerably heavy.
Fiddling with the strap, Mina absently fingered the few remaining coins of her allowance in her pocket.
Hmm… I have a little money left over.
Embarrassing words like "thank you" or "I respect you" would never, ever leave her mouth while she lived and breathed — but that didn't mean she could pretend her heart didn't know better. The image of Alf surfaced unbidden in her mind: night after night lately, he kept the study lamp burning late, poring over ancient tomes until sleep finally claimed him.
Right. This much, at least, I can do as his disciple.
Having resolved to score a few points of favor with her master, Mina turned on her heel without hesitation.
Her destination was a cozy little teahouse in the heart of the village.
"One pouch of your subtly fragrant leaf tea, please. Something good for drinking at night."
"Ah, it's Mina, isn't it! Looking for tea to give Master Alf, are you? As it happens, I've got just the thing — Moonlight Tea, the finest there is for melting away fatigue."
With the shopkeeper's recommendation, she carefully cradled the tea leaves packed in an elegant paper pouch, and for no particular reason her heart swelled with a warm, fluttery satisfaction.
Crunch!
She took a big bite of the apple the store lady had given her, and sweet, refreshing juice burst across her tongue.
"There! Today's errands are a complete success!"
Humming a little tune as she walked along the dirt road warmed by the sun, Mina felt on top of the world. Her bag was satisfyingly heavy, she had a small gift ready for her master, and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful.
But as she left the teahouse and turned toward the cabin, her steps came to an abrupt halt in front of a small trinket shop at the edge of the village.
The charming little ornaments glittering on the display stand had caught the sunlight and stolen her gaze entirely.
How pretty…
Colorful silks, intricately carved combs, and delicate silverwork. She had always pretended not to care about such pretty fripperies, what with training and practicality being drilled into her — but the instincts of a girl who had just turned twenty could not be hidden forever.
"Oh my…"
Among them all, one thing seized Mina's attention at once: a small silver hairpin.
A pin whose exquisitely wrought leaf pattern embraced a translucent blue gem, as clear as if it had swallowed a dewdrop whole. It wasn't flashy enough to seize the eye outright, but it carried a quiet, noble elegance — one that was, uncannily, a perfect match for Mina's own spirit mana.
"Oho, madam has an excellent eye! That pin was crafted with great care by the master artisan at the workshop nearby."
The shopkeeper approached with a pleasant smile.
"Pinned into those lovely locks of yours, it would suit you beautifully — like a single flower in bloom."
"N-no, I was just passing by and happened to see it, that's all…"
Mina flushed red and hastily waved her hands in denial. It was the shy pride of a girl who didn't want to be seen as a childish thing fussing over vanity.
Pong!
Just then, Epi, who had been holding its breath in her pocket, gave a small jolt. It had read its contractor's heart and was nudging her along — It looks amazing on you! Buy it, okay?
Ugh… why do you have to be like this too, Epi?
Mina gave her pocket a light tap to calm the spirit, but her eyes would not leave the leaf-shaped pin. She was an adult now. If she smoothed down her tangled hair and slipped this pin in, ever so gently… wouldn't her master, who treated her like a little child every single day, finally begin to see her differently?
The moment the thought took root, a ticklish flutter of excitement blossomed in her chest.
Mina fingered the last few silver coins in her pocket — the tiny remainder of her allowance left over after buying the fatigue-relieving tea for Alf. When she asked the price of the hairpin, it matched the money in her hand exactly, as if by some miracle.
"I-I'll… take this one, please."
"An excellent choice, young lady!"
She handed over the silver coins and took the small wrapped package in her hand, and a giddy joy welled up through her palm.
Standing at the roadside, Mina carefully drew out the pin and slipped it gently into one side of her hair. In the small mirror propped against the display stand, her reflection somehow looked a little more grown-up, a little more lovely, than usual.
"Hehe…"
Her lips curled upward of their own accord. What would her master say when he saw it? Would he smile warmly and tell her, 'Why, you look like a proper young lady now!'?
The moment she opened the cabin door and stepped inside, Alf looked up warmly from the ancient tome he'd been leafing through at the study desk.
"Welcome back, Mina. You worked hard on your errands."
"Hehe, it was nothing! Here's everything you asked for. And… this is a present for you, Master."
Setting down her heavy bag, Mina shyly placed the carefully wrapped pouch of Moonlight Tea from the village teahouse on Alf's desk.
"You've looked so tired lately, staying up late reading every night. They say it does wonders for fatigue if you drink it in the evening."
Alf's eyes softened into gentle arcs. Cradling the pouch of tea leaves tenderly, he showed a warm smile of genuine delight.
"To think you went to such trouble for me… Thank you, Mina. I shall drink it with great pleasure."
Seeing her master so pleased sent Mina's spirits soaring. Seizing the moment, she subtly swept her hair to one side — and angled the back of her head, where the pin sat behind her right ear, toward Alf. Bathed in the warm sunlight streaming through the window, the blue gem and its silver leaves gave off a soft, quiet glow.
Please, please notice…
Alf's gaze drifted naturally toward her hair. For an instant, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, followed by a faint, fatherly smile.
"Oh my, that's a hairpin I haven't seen before."
"Ah… yes! The shopkeeper at the edge of the village said it suited me, so I bought it with my own allowance."
Heart pounding, Mina waited for the next words to leave her master's mouth. You look like a proper young lady now.It suits the grown-up Mina wonderfully. She braced herself for sweet compliments of that kind.
But what came out of Alf's mouth was not the praise she had hoped for.
"How adorable. That little dewdrop shape suits your delicate little face perfectly. So you've learned to fuss over your appearance a bit, have you? The tiny tyke who always ran around with a bird's nest for hair, dressing herself up so prettily now — how charming."
"……"
Adorable. Tiny tyke. Charming.
Alf had spoken in a kind, affectionate tone, but each of those words drove itself heavily into Mina's chest, one dull thud at a time. To her master, she was still nothing more than a cute little kid playing dress-up in grown-up clothes.
"…Right? Hehe."
Mina forced the corners of her mouth up into an awkward smile. The hand that reached up to smooth the pin away trembled slightly. The giddy joy that had been bubbling in her chest had, at some point, curdled into a cold, hollow emptiness.
So I'm… still not enough, after all.
Her magic, her maturity, even her appearance. The realization that she remained hopelessly lacking and young in her master's eyes settled over her heart like a heavy stone. The cool touch of the hairpin somehow felt shabby now, and Mina quietly lowered her head.
Elf and human. A wall between races that spanned hundreds of years. She was a human who would barely live a century before withering away, while Alf would go on living for hundreds more, still young and beautiful, exactly as he was now.
Even when I grow old and wither, Master will still look exactly like this.
The moment the thought reached its end, a corner of her chest twisted with a sharp ache. She wanted to close that gap. It was as if she had suddenly found her reason to grow stronger — to stand beside her master one day as a true, equal companion.
That night.
Mina lay in bed, but no matter how tightly she shut her eyes, sleep would not come. Beneath the faint moonlight filling her room, she fiddled with the spirit stone resting by her pillow, the words she'd heard from her master that day haunting her ears like ghosts.
Just once… maybe I could try it without Master knowing?
High-rank spirits. The very domain her master had thundered warnings about, calling it deadly danger. But the low- and mid-rank spirits already moved at her merest gesture, obedient as puppies. How different could a high-rank spirit really be?
If he sees me commanding a high-rank spirit with his own eyes, he won't be able to treat me like a child anymore.
Having steeled her resolve, Mina cracked open her door and peered toward her master's room. Beyond the dim hallway flowed only silent stillness. Alf was either long asleep by now, or deep in his own private meditation.
Slipping quietly out of the cabin, Mina made her way to the clearing deep in the forest where she usually practiced her spirit arts. The cold, crisp night air brushed against her cheeks.
Okay. I can do this!
Standing at the center of the clearing, Mina drew a deep breath and spread both arms wide. Mana rose from her fingertips in a faint glow, and the surrounding blades of grass began to sway and stir though no wind blew.
"Answer my call…"
"With the blood and will of the contractor, I open the gate!"
Mina poured every hope she had buried in her heart into the incantation and cried it out. Normally, the aura of a mid-rank spirit would have woven itself faintly through the air — but this time was different. The mana in the atmosphere whirled violently and compressed, and a tremendous roar like the tearing of space itself slammed against her ears.
Grrrrrind—!
High above, a blue summoning circle slowly spread outward, tracing vast geometric patterns across the sky.
It worked!
Her heart pounded fit to burst.
See? Master is just way too overprotective! Look, I can do it too!
Beyond the summoning circle, the presence of a colossal spirit began to surge forth. The blue array reconfigured itself into the shape of a massive gate, and at the very instant the seam at its center began to part—
Screeeech—!
An ominous grinding noise, like glass shattering all at once, rang out across the entire forest. Pitch-black cracks began splitting across the surface of the blue summoning circle — crack, crack.
"Wh-what…? What's happening?!"
The fissures spread at a runaway pace, spiderwebbing across the whole of the summoning circle until it was completely engulfed. It had failed. It had failed completely.
Mina pressed her trembling hands together and squeezed out the last of her mana, throwing every ounce of strength into unraveling the spell. But the rampaging space, long past the point of control, refused to heed her. Worse — the mana now flowing backward had become a vast, sucking maw, greedily devouring Mina's own mana in reverse.
"Ah… Aaagh—!"
Crushed by a pressure that wrung her very soul, Mina screamed and collapsed to her knees. Cold sweat drenched her entire body, and her heart thundered as if it would tear itself apart. Despite Alf's repeated, earnest warnings, the price of overtrusting her own half-baked talent was cruel — cruel almost beyond bearing.
Kugugugugu—!
Blood-red fissures flickered and swallowed the clearing on all sides. At last the heart of the summoning circle tore itself apart, and a grotesque silver vortex — one that devoured every scrap of light and mana in the world — burst violently through the dimensional wall.
KWAAANG—!
The magic collapsed and snapped off all at once, leaving behind a strange, ear-ringing silence that hung over the clearing. Having wrung her mana out to its very limit, Mina's breath came ragged, climbing all the way up to her chin.
"Hah… hah, hah…"
With hands shaking uncontrollably, Mina braced herself against the cold ground and slowly lifted her head.
The beautiful blue gate that should have connected to the Spirit Realm was gone without a trace. In its place stood an ominous, alien gate of silver, gaping open like a monstrous maw.
"What… what is that…?"
Only now did her master's voice echo through her ears like a phantom.
"If you're careless and the gate ends up connected somewhere else entirely, there's no telling what might come crawling out of it."
Thump.
Fear clamped down hard around her heart. Where on earth had it connected to? What in the world lay beyond that gate…?
Zeeeek— krrrk-krrrk.
As the spatial barrier shrieked in protest, something beyond belief — a form utterly alien to this world — revealed itself from the heart of the massive silver vortex.
…An eye.
A colossal eye, before which something like herself was less than an insect. A pupil slit sharply like a beast's, and sinister blood vessels engorged and brimming with red. An overwhelming presence unlike anything she had ever felt in her life — one that made all five senses scream — filled the night forest to its brim.
"Ah…?!"
Even the moonlight was cut off. A vast shadow blanketing the sky above the clearing bore down on Mina as if to swallow her whole, and gooseflesh erupted across every inch of her body.
That's not a spirit…!
She had lived her whole life as a spirit artist, communing with the mana of nature. No matter how wild the savagery nature harbored, it never carried an aura this grotesque, this inhuman. Then what in the world was that thing?
Kikik. Kikikik—
It moved with an unnatural, mechanical jerkiness — and then, with the cold, pitiless gaze of something looking down at an insect at its feet, it quietly regarded Mina.
M-Master…
Unable to make so much as a sound, Mina trembled violently, calling her master's name silently with eyes drowning in despair.
What… what am I supposed to do now…?